My boyfriend and I went to CC18, waaay back, with manga costumes from Blade of the Immortal. I knew nothing about the construction of an obi, a proper kimono or anything. I just modified patterns to make our costumes LOOK like the images as much as possible. Judging was interesting because we got a lot of constructive advice on how to do stuff better (*ahem* and properly) but never felt put down. And they really liked the wooden sandals that Rob made from scratch. We ended up with two awards that night, one specifically for the geta! We met so many nice people, and got a lot of attention for our anime and manga costumes since we really stood out. It was awesome and I'd recommend going to CostumeCon any time its possible....

Quote:

Originally Posted by CapsuleCorp

I really don't want to be ageist, but I do blame a lot of it on the young age of the vast majority of anime cosplayers. It is unfortunate, Tikki, that you've seen people try to ban experienced cosplayers just because they can't be bothered to try harder. I did hear a rumor (and I will flag it as a RUMOR for now) that ACen chose not to give strippervash and his group an award this year solely because "they win too many awards." [snip] no one should be penalized for consistently standing head-and-shoulders above the masses.[snip] I honestly don't understand why people think that the only way to get fair competition is to lower the standards to the lowest common denominator. That's not now competition works, and it's not how life works.

Ah, ACen also did the same to a friend of mine who'd won Best in Show a few years in a row. He took a break from competitions there a few years but when he tried to compete again, they (meaning staff) told him it was all full. Then they let quite a few cosplayers register for the masquerade after he and his brother left to enjoy the convention. Yeah... that's fair... *snorts* As for the whiners, I had a regular chat with Sue Shambaugh when she ran the Katsucon masquerade up until the last few years. I'd make a point to discuss a project with her to make sure we didn't stress her and Tom out with skit surprises and what not. And every year, she'd laugh and tell me about email petitions she'd get to ban myself and Rob, and a few other old fogies I know. It's stupid, petty and just makes me want to compete even more when someone makes pot shots like that. I'm mulish like that.
Thankfully, I've never dealt with any of that crap running AMA's cosplay events, or even staffing at Neko. The cosplay drama I usually deal with from staffing stems from gossipers griping at each other, people that get caught cheating (like trying to wear a commissioned costume to the Hall Contest) and people that don't read the rules all the way through and wonder why they got dq-ed for missing rehearsal or line-up at the Masquerade...
Honestly, I'd love for our con to have a higher caliber of costuming, but it's a small convention in a region with lots of scifi/fantasy/horror events along with anime cons. Also a lot of people that are GOOD cosplayers tend to focus their hard work on other events like Otakon, only a month away from AMA this year. I've added in the allowance of all genres to the Hall Contest this year, just to try something new. It'd be nice to see a lot of good non-anime costumes at AMA, if only to inspire young cosplayers to improve their skills and try something new.